Original subtitles

Hello.

Is this Joe Mannix? That's right.

Mr. Mannix, I'd like to talk to you

about business.

Well, uh, if you'll give me your name and phone number,

I'll call you back in the morning.

I'm on my way out to see a client.

That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Mannix.

It's a lousy night for business calls.

Stay in.

Curl up with a good book.

Mr. Mannix.

Yeah.

I told you it was a rough night out.

Home's the only safe place for you.

Sleep tight.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Hey, buddy... Yeah?

Uh, have you got a half a buck

for a cup of coffee?

With a little wine in it?

Well, it cuts down on my jogging.

There you are.

Hey.

Join me?

Some other time.

Mr. Mannix? That's right.

I'm Martin Emory.

You told me on the phone this morning

that nobody knew you contacted me.

No one did.

Correction.

I was warned off the case.

With a bullet to back it up.

How could anyone have known?

How about your secretary?

She phoned me for you.

No, no, I trust Miss Phillips implicitly.

Besides, she didn't know why I phoned you.

Maybe it's time I did.

All right.

The woman is my wife.

Sorry, Mr. Emory. I don't handle cases like that.

It's not my line.

It's not what you think.

She told me the next morning.

She didn't even know the man's name.

It was just a case of one long, lonely evening

and one drink too many.

I never mentioned it to her again.

I pushed it out of my mind,

until this photo arrived about a month ago.

Laura doesn't know about the photo.

I don't know what it would do to her if she found out.

I paid the man $2,500 the first time,

and I was glad, I thought, to have it done with.

How much the second time?

Five thousand.

Now ten.

Getting steeper.

He's supposed to send me the negative this time.

It's easy enough to make copies of a negative.

Mr. Mannix, there's $10,000 inside this envelope.

You'd only be throwing good money after bad.

I know how these characters work.

That's exactly why I contacted you.

Track him down. Find out who he is.

A man like that must have some kind of a record.

Maybe you can put the fear of God into him.

I sent Laura to Europe until this is over.

I want it finished, Mr. Mannix.

As quickly as possible.

How are the payoffs made?

Upper drive in the new Mount Olympic building development.

The envelopes are left

underneath the Mount Olympic sign.

When?

I was told to watch the personals

in The Cool City.

That's one of those underground newspapers.

Yeah, I know.

How are the notices identified?

"To M.E.

From Fantastic Photographer."

Okay, I'll be in touch.

Good.

You can contact me

through my personal number at the office.

No one answers it but me.

KL5-6654.

Right.

I checked you out.

I know you can be trusted to, uh,

keep this just between us.

Goes with the job.

And I'm glad you decided to take the case.

I really took the case before we met.

You see, Mr. Emory,

you don't like your wife's reputation being threatened.

I don't like being shot at.

I'll be back.

Hey!

What happened last night?

Oh, I've told you all I can, Peggy.

You didn't tell me anything.

And you tried to pass that off

as the work of a woodpecker.

Just a joke.

I know a bullet hole when I see a bullet hole.

And a bullet hole ain't no joke.

Just be patient for a little while, huh, Peggy?

Listen, this is a first.

I've been in on every other case.

Now what's so special about this one?

I made a deal with a client.

Absolutely confidential.

Just between him and me.

Okay? Okay.

But it's not gonna stop me from worrying about you.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

And in reference to the inventory number

on the specified date, I submit...

Excuse me, Miss Phillips.

We can finish this another time.

Yes, sir.

Yes?

This is Mannix.

I heard from the blackmailer a few minutes ago.

He gets around fast.

Is it true what he said?

That, uh, there was no money in the envelope,

just scraps of paper?

Yeah, I made a switch.

On whose authority?

Now look, Mr. Emory, you put the case in my hands.

Yes, I did. And you know what you've done?

It stirred him up, I hope.

Gave him a little shaking.

Well, he's doubled the amount!

That's how much you stirred him up!

And if he doesn't have the money by tomorrow,

he'll see that copies of the photograph are circulated.

Well, we have until tomorrow, so sit tight.

How can I sit tight?

You still don't know a thing about him.

I do now.

I know that he's not the man in the photograph,

and I've got the license number on the car he was driving.

JFO247?

Well, let's see.

Ah, here we are.

JFO247.

That car was rented on the 11th

to a David Tremont.

Uh, did he give an address?

Yes. Uh, Crystal Hotel.

213 West Main.

Do you have a David Tremont registered here?

Sure have.

Is he in?

Yes, I'd say he is.

What's his room number?

Who should I say is calling?

Oh, well, don't say.

I'll just go right on up.

Oh, I... couldn't do that.

Well, um... sort of a surprise.

Oh, that kind of a surprise.

Well, in that case, just go right up to 315, sir.

Yeah. Thanks.

Yeah, what do you want?

Plumber.

Your bathroom's flooding the room downstairs.

Okay, Wilke, you can send for the lab crew now.

Right.

How much longer, Lieutenant?

That's up to you, Mannix.

We've covered everything.

That's what you say.

Look, it was self-defense.

I walked in, he shot at me, I shot back. That's it.

Except why you came here in the first place.

I told you... business.

That's like saying the stars only come out after dark.

Deegan, I want to get out of here.

And I want the name of your client.

Wouldn't do you any good.

Well, who are you to say that?

Look, Deegan, you can think what you want about me,

you can knock my profession, you can give me the treatment,

you can cool my heels till they freeze,

but it's still no dice!

Look, let's get one thing straight, Mannix.

Maybe Lieutenant Tobias would let you off easier,

but this is my case, not his, so don't push me.

Okay?

Now, who's your client?

That's still privileged information.

I'm still asking.

Book me!

Or let me go.

All right, Pete.

Where are you going?

Tail him, Lieutenant.

What for?

If you were on his tail, he wouldn't go anywhere.

Mannix may be stubborn, but he's not stupid.

He might have settled for this,

and I'd be on my way now

to join my wife in Europe.

The odds were against it.

Maybe so, but now it's a lot worse.

I didn't bargain to get involved in any killing.

I told you, I've kept your name out of it.

I, uh, thought I'd seen that woman before.

Brunette.

Where?

Driving a car that cut me off.

My mistake.

Mr. Mannix, let's be honest.

What, uh... what are my chances now?

I knew from the start it was a gamble.

Okay, Mr. Emory, let's both be honest.

You'd like to cash in your chips, right?

I don't know.

I don't know what to do.

It's your wife, your name, your decision.

I think we... we'd better call it quits.

Well, you can send that to me

after I've finished my end of the case.

Someone still took a shot at me.

I want to know about that brunette in the dark glasses,

and you paid me to get a negative back.

It's still floating around someplace.

Anybody around I can talk to?

You fuzz?

No.

You look like fuzz.

Sorry.

I'm a private investigator.

Same as fuzz.

Not downtown it isn't.

You sure?

Sure.

Well, then welcome to Cool City.

All the news that's unfit to print.

What's the matter?

Something got you uptight?

Oh, well, it's really none of my business.

You mean I'm a little too grownup

for this sort of thing, huh?

Well, I... Hey, look, man,

things are tough in the newspaper game, right?

All the news is on TV, right?

So you got to feed the public all the stuff

they can't see on the tube, right, man?

So here I am on Cool City.

You know, I used to be on the old New York Herald,

and I was there 30 years before it folded.

You know what I did?

Now don't laugh.

I was a church editor.

Yeah. Now, go ahead and laugh.

No laugh.

Look, I'd like to check out this personal notice.

There were, uh, two others like that.

Yeah, I know.

We get lots of personals.

Make our best reading.

Real way-out stuff, huh?

Yeah, I remember this one and the other two.

Tried to make it real hip, but it came out square.

Like the person who placed it.

Mm-hmm.

Well... Takes one to know one.

Uh, what, uh... what'd he look like?

Wasn't a he.

Was a she.

Brunette? Dark glasses?

Yeah, man.

Well, you got anything on her?

A name, address, anything?

Nothing.

We don't ask no questions of nobody around here.

That's what makes Cool City... cool.

No changing your story, Mannix?

No change, Lieutenant.

Okay, let's go over it step by step.

You're a real tiger, Deegan.

Don't get funny.

Just trying to start the day off with a smile.

Not at my expense.

Now, he fired first, you said?

That's right.

Three shots?

Right. Wrong.

The lab crew went over the entire room.

No trace of a slug,

no bullet hole on your side of the room.

Now look, Lieutenant, I'm not blind, I'm not deaf.

I saw gun flashes, and I heard gunshots.

Then how come the only slug we found was in him,

fired by your detective special?

What did the report say about his gun?

Fully loaded, unfired, unused.

You knew the dead man as David Tremont.

No, I didn't know him at all.

The desk clerk said he was registered under that name.

You ever hear of Dennis Taggart?

No.

Well, that was his real name... Taggart.

Two-bit con artist.

Not bright enough for big-time extortion, but

smart enough about one thing.

He never packed a gun.

Anything you care to add, Mannix... now?

No, nothing more that would help you.

Help yourself.

Like prove to me you were even on a case.

He was. He told me.

He told you what?

That he was working on a case.

What case?

I don't know.

You can't claim privileged information.

She doesn't know a thing.

Look, if there's some personal reason you're fighting me,

Mannix, let's get it out in the open, huh?

I'm doing my job, Lieutenant.

I'm protecting a client.

If I were in your shoes, Mannix,

I'd start worrying about protecting myself.

Joe...

Peggy, I've got to make a phone call. Personal.

But what's it all about?

Now I don't know.

Would you let me make this phone call?

What number are you calling, please?

KL5-6654.

I'm sorry, sir, but that number has been disconnected.

I want to see Mr. Emory.

Well, I'm sorry, but Mr. Emory's not in.

I'll wait.

Well, I'll have to schedule you for an appointment.

May I have your name, please, and your phone number?

The name is Mannix.

And the number?

Now wait a minute.

You're Miss Phillips, aren't you?

Yes.

You're Mr. Emory's private secretary? Yes, of course.

Then what's this big act, as if you never heard my name?

I'm sorry, sir, but I never have heard it before.

You called me for Mr. Emory when he hired me.

There must be some mistake.

Push the button.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Now, I'm going to tell you for the second time...

He's trying to force his way

into Mr. Emory's office.

What's going on out here?

I want to talk to you.

Tell them it's okay, that you know me.

Well, how can I tell them I know you?

I never saw you before!

Shall I call the police, Mr. Emory?

I don't think that will be necessary, Miss Phillips.

Just show him out.

I don't believe he'll cause us any more trouble.

♪ ♪

Hey, Jim, you check on the other side of the house.

I'm gonna check down by the fence.

♪ ♪

I'm just gonna have to tighten security around here.

Nobody's perfect.

What do you want?!

Now you can cut out the act, Emory.

There's nobody around.

Listen, who are you?

Well, I can understand why you'd like not to know me now,

why you've been dodging me, pretending I'm not there.

Well, I'm here, Emory, and I'm telling you there are

just too many holes in your story,

and I've been dropping through them.

I've been obligated to protect you

and keep your name out of it up to now.

But if you know anything that can help me,

you'd better start talking.

How can I? I don't know what you're talking about.

Maybe Mrs. Emory does.

Are you threatening my wife in some way?

No. No, that's no threat.

I just want to know more about the man in the photo with her.

Man with Laura? Yeah.

What man? What photo?

It's your choice, Emory.

You talk to me... or I get in touch

with Mrs. Emory in Europe and talk to her.

Europe?

Yeah.

What gave you that idea?

Martin?

I'll be right with you, Laura.

Not too long, dear.

I'll be just a few more seconds, darling.

My wife in Europe?

Now whoever told you that?

I've heard some stories in my life, but that is the weirdest.

Yeah, and he just grins at me,

and he went up and joined his wife.

At least that frees you of all obligation.

Now you can tell Lieutenant Deegan everything.

My word against Emory's? Ha!

Facts are facts, Joe.

What facts?

There's nothing linking Emory with me.

The meetings were secret, the phone calls private,

he paid me in cash.

There's no record of the case at all. No evidence!

Except there was a bullet hole in that front door.

Now, someone took a shot at you.

We've got proof.

We're not gonna open up that can of beans yet.

Why not?

Look at the way it would stack up.

Taggart comes here and takes a shot at me.

So I go gunning for vengeance.

I walk into his hotel room and I blast him!

That's just circumstantial.

Yeah, but it's enough to book me on suspicion of murder,

at least in Lieutenant Deegan's book.

Well, there's still that picture negative.

Now, Taggart had to have hidden it someplace.

It won't do me any good.

Joe, I know it's dirty pool, but it ties Emory in.

Peggy, I didn't know until I saw Laura Emory this afternoon.

Know what?

She's not the woman in that photo.

That was a phony, too.

Look, I shouldn't even be talking to you.

Well, if you'll just, uh, give me the key

to room 315, we wouldn't have to talk.

After what happened the last time you went up there?

I'll only be ten minutes.

Sorry.

Well, there's no law

against renting a room for the night, is there?

Well, when you put it that way.

That'll be $42.

The sign says six dollars a night.

We only rent by the week.

Since when?

Since the new policy went into effect.

Thanks.

Uh, just one thing.

No more surprises, huh?

I'll do my best.

Oh, by the way, uh, who's my neighbor?

316 is empty.

The other night, too? Uh-uh.

She checked out the morning after.

What'd she look like?

Couldn't see much of her face.

Brunette? Right.

Always wore dark glasses.

Same woman. Has to be.

Taggart could have had an accomplice.

Yeah, maybe.

Now, when I broke in here,

Taggart was standing at that window.

He opened it,

and he was on his way out when I came in.

He then fired three shots at me.

But he didn't fire at all.

I mean, there's not a slug or a bullet hole anywhere.

Now figure that one out.

Yeah.

Look, Peggy, you wait out here,

count to five, and then come in, huh?

Okay.

One, two, three, four, five.

What's that?

An invitation to murder. What'd you see?

A figure at the window, Joe:

you.

Then?

Then three flashes of light.

Hmm... From this.

But I had three blanks fired at me.

But Taggart's gun wasn't used at all.

No, he didn't fire the gun.

The way I figure it, he was unconscious.

Somebody propped him up in this window.

They were behind him on the fire escape,

and fired three blanks at me from behind him,

and got me to return the real thing.

This fire escape connects these two rooms.

Ah... ah, the brunette with the dark glasses, right.

Now look, Peggy, the police only checked

the inside of the room for fingerprints.

Call Sid Davis over at C & I.

Ask him to come down here

and dust this fire escape for prints, huh?

Right.

Oh, Joe, one thing...

Taggart was deadweight, right?

I'd say roughly about 160 pounds worth.

Then how could a woman, alone,

put him into an upright position?

She must have had help.

That's a moving violation, Lieutenant.

Just saving you a trip downtown.

You asked Sid Davis in C & I

to check out some prints for you. Why?

Routine.

Oh, come off it, Mannix, will you?

Sid may be your friend,

but he still works for the department first.

Okay, so Sid told you where he dusted up those prints;

the window outside of room 315.

I know where.

I want to know how they got there.

Look, I don't even know yet who the prints belong to.

Harry Glidden. G-L-I-D-D-E-N.

Name ring a bell?

Zero.

Our records list him as a grifter, a petty thief

and a one-time partner of Dennis Taggart, the man you shot.

Anything you want to add?

If there is, you'll be the first to hear from me.

I'll tell you what. Let's make an appointment.

You be in my office by 2:00 this afternoon.

And Mannix, I guess there's one more thing

you ought to know about Harry Glidden.

Our records list him as dead

for just over ten years.

Excuse me. Yeah?

Are you Vince Allison?

Aw, look, fella, I'm up to my ears now.

I can't take another job for at least a week. I'm sorry.

It's not about a job.

It's about Harry Glidden.

Look, I'm clean.

I haven't touched a hot car in years.

Relax, I'm not a cop.

Then beat it.

Don't look for trouble, mister.

I'm looking for information on Harry Glidden.

What for? He's dead.

You're acting like he's back among us.

One thing the world don't need

is the second coming of Harry Glidden.

Why is that?

He'd turn in his own father, if he knew who it was.

He's strictly poison.

What else? That's all.

Nothing else. I've said my piece.

Look, as far as I'm concerned, the less said

about Harry Glidden, the better.

What'd he do to you?

Left me behind the wheel of a getaway car...

while he got away.

That shouldn't have surprised me, though, knowing what he was.

Just one thing about Harry Glidden did surprise me.

What's that?

He died of natural causes.

Peggy, did you check the doctor

who signed the death certificate?

Dead, too. But not natural.

Hit and run victim,

two weeks after Glidden was buried.

Did you dig up a picture of Glidden?

Only in word.

He was camera shy.

What's the word?

Crafty. Wily. Ruthless.

According to whom?

The men in his life.

Well, what about the women?

I'm working on that.

Oh, one more thing, Joe.

Lieutenant Deegan called.

He said your time was up.

Yeah, okay.

Deegan means business.

Yeah, I know, Peggy. I'll be in touch.

What'll it be?

What's she drinking?

Whiskey, straight, on the rocks.

Two of them.

Oh, uh, mind if I make another phone call?

It's local, isn't it? Yeah.

Deegan.

Mannix, you're overdue!

Yeah, look, Lieutenant, I got a little problem.

Um, I need a little more time.

Now, I'm not playing games with you. I give you my word.

I'm giving you mine. It's no.

I'll come in as soon as I'm finished.

You come in now, or I'll go and get you.

Sorry, Lieutenant.

Put out an APB on Mannix.

Thanks.

Big spender.

Replacement.

Oh, I'll drink to that.

Mmm. If I don't hear it clink, I play better.

What would you like to hear?

Anything you feel like.

Hey, you got style, you know it?

What do you want?

Talk.

Lonely?

Curious.

About Harry Glidden, right?

You've been putting me on.

Hmm?

Who told you where to find me?

My job is asking questions. Who told you to expect me?

Look, it's an unofficial organization.

The "Hate Harry Glidden Club."

Dead ten years.

They still hate him.

And you?

Well... I liked him.

Sue me. I liked Harry Glidden.

That surprises you, huh?

Well, he must have been different with you.

You know, it was funny.

H-He wasn't even good looking.

Nose was all crooked, and the ears stuck out too far,

but there was something about him only women knew.

He made you feel like you were something special.

At least he made me feel that way until...

Well, there was one thing I didn't like about Harry.

That. See?

All his women. That was his idea.

Put his brand on 'em.

You know, it was years ago,

but I can still remember the night

when she walked into

the spot I was playing.

Harry looks at her and he says to me,

"Now, there's a gal with class.

That's no peroxide blonde."

So I said to myself, "Good-bye, Harry."

You know what he dug about

that blonde chick the most?

She wouldn't let him put his brand on her,

wouldn't get tattooed for him.

So, he left me.

Still...

you got to take the good with the bad, right?

One thing I got to admit... That blonde did have class.

I wonder what she ever saw in Harry.

Yeah. So do I.

♪ ♪

I didn't want to come empty-handed.

Now, the size may be wrong,

but I'm sure you understand my intention.

If you're thinking of calling the police, forget it.

They're already looking for me.

Oh, and if you're, uh, thinking of

setting off the alarm to call your

security guards, you can forget that, too.

It's been disconnected in here.

Now, you and I are going to have a private talk,

Mrs. Emory, before your husband gets home.

Who are you? What...?

And the next question is obviously, "What do you want?" Right?

Well, I'll tell you what I don't want.

I don't want to play patsy for anyone.

I don't know what you're talking about.

The brunette who was in the hotel room next to Taggart.

The brunette who cut me off

when I was tailing Taggart from the money drop.

I'm talking about... you.

And I'm talking about one of your old boyfriends,

Harry Glidden, who suddenly returned from the dead.

In a way, Mr. Mannix, I'm relieved that you know.

Don't get too comfortable.

It's a pretty long trip from Harry Glidden's old hangouts

to an estate in Holmby Hills.

Or were you just slumming in those days?

Slumming.

What about Harry Glidden?

What do you think?

He is alive.

And well.

And living in Holmby Hills.

You're home early.

Oh, I was here before you, waiting.

We've been expecting you, Mr. Mannix.

Oh, how the little woman must have inspired you.

From hoodlum to magnate.

I saw the makings.

The rest was easy.

Phony death, plastic surgery...

new name, new life.

There's a drifter in Harry Glidden's grave.

But we don't have to tell you that, now do we?

Only how Taggart got on to you.

That was a piece of, uh, bad luck.

You see, in prison, an inmate will read just about anything.

Taggart happened to come across a rare photo of me

in an industrial publication.

Something in the eyes, he said,

something only he would recognize.

It was blackmail, of course, but not the kind we discussed.

And it was you who fired those shots at me

in my office to get me involved.

No, I did.

I also made the first call for your appointment.

Hmm... the family that slays together...

Well, I'd say you two have just about covered everything.

Yes, of course.

It was even reported to the police

that you attempted to break into my office,

and that you made illegal entry here.

I knew you'd be back.

I even relaxed the guard to... to make it easier for you.

But you're not getting out, Mannix.

And that gun isn't going to help you.

Why don't you have a look out the window?

I alerted them. They're hunting for a prowler.

Now don't you think I would have taken care of that, too?

Drop your gun, Emory!

Drop it!

It's a good thing you dropped your gun, or you'd be dead.

He's been dead ten years, Lieutenant.

You know, I still can't figure how Deegan

knew to come to Emory's place.

When I asked him, all he said was "Forget it."

So, forget it.

I can't. It's bugging me.

Well, do whatever you want.

I've got work.

Hey, hey, what work?

Just work.

Peggy?

I'm going to lunch.

It can wait!

I'm hungry. Peggy!

All right, I called Deegan. I was worried about you.

Peggy, how many ti... Now, wait a minute.

Just wait a minute.

I mean, I practically saved your life.

Yeah, I guess you did.

Well, look, um...

Why don't you take an extra hour for lunch?

Okay.